The Other Side
by MthrNatur190
Summary: It looks like the 'Cons got a very powerful & demonic new ally. It also seems that the humans aren't telling the Autobots everything they need to know about their new home. & what's up with some of the new human recruits?  Post RoTF. Rated T for language
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Reg!" Doug called.

The brown-haired, sharp featured Chief Medical Officer looked up from the files he was looking over to see a similar looking 16 year old with softer features coming his way.

Reggie let a small smile cross his lips as he put the file back in the cabinet, but continued to lean against the counter in the infirmary.

Thank God it's not one of the fricking twins, he thought.

They exchanged a quick handshake before the younger man began to speak again.

"Hey, have you seen Leila anywhere? I can't find her and I think she was on the verge of an insane moment the last time I saw her."

"When was that?" Reggie asked.

"Thirty minutes ago."

"Hmm. Well, you know her. When she disappears like that-"Reggie was interrupted when they heard a loud "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

They both snorted with laughter as they heard their 16 year old leader, Leila Bellator, come bounding down the hall outside of the infirmary, yelling like a maniac.

"Ya gotta love that ADHD." Doug commented through his low laughter.

"Actually, it's the buildup of the energy running through her from her position as leader. She has access to all that power, but considering she can't control or use every bit of it yet, this is how it releases itself." Reggie corrected.

"The ADHD aids it though, right?" Doug asked.

"A little I guess." Reggie responded.

Then she stopped right in front of the open door. There was no denying that that was their leader; the white hair, eyes, and usually light brown, now glowing white, tattoos on her arms gave it away. She had a dragon tattoo crawling down her right arm with its head on her palm and what looked like vines and leaves on her left. She was wearing a light athletic outfit and holding a can of whipped cream of all things in her hand.

"Wha' sup, people!" she yelled. She shook the can, bent backwards, and sprayed the sugary topping straight into her mouth.

Reggie, arms crossed, bowed and shook his head, shoulders shaking with laughter. Doug did the same, murmuring, "Dear Lord, help us now."

"The hell you laughing at?" she asked, giggling to herself.

She sprayed some more whipped cream into her mouth then yelled, "Kick it!"

Suddenly, the song "In the Ayer" by Flo Rida was heard throughout the entire kingdom.

"Oh hot damn,

This is my jam.

Keep me partying to the a.m.

Y'all don't understand,

Make me throw my hands

In the Ayer, ay, Ayer,

Ayer, ay, Ayer." she sang.

Then she started dancing down the hallway, yelling, "Yo, Taj! Sing for me, baby!"

The boys continued to laugh, while Reggie dropped his voice and said, "All that power, all that respect, being turned into craziness at the hands of the one who's to lead a great army. Well, you know what they say; looks can be deceiving."

"Like how you make it look like you're only thirty?" Leila retorted from down the hall.

Doug laughed louder and harder this time, while Reggie looked up, wide-eyed, then narrowed them and ran down the hall after her.

"Take that back you son of a bitch!" he screamed.

"You'll have to catch me first, Chee Chee!" she called back.

"Ohhhh!" Doug said to himself, covering his mouth. He hated being called Chee Chee. No one knows how or why she calls him Chee Chee, but everyone finds it hilarious, especially at how pissed he gets when called that.

Five minutes later, still laughing, Doug suddenly heard his name called.

"Doug! Get your ass down to the training field! We got a lot of work to do!" Leila called in a commanding tone.

Well, it was fun while it lasted, Doug thought. But hopefully I won't get my ass kicked as bad as it did last time.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" Doug called back, making his way out to the training field for another lesson in martial arts.

* * *

"There hasn't been a Decepticon sighting in weeks. What do you think they're planning?" Ironhide queried.

"Right now, they're probably still recuperating from the battle in Egypt and trying to find more Decepticons to help them." the red and blue mech, Optimus Prime, answered.

He looked at his black weapons specialist as he gave a snort and shook his head.

"I just wanna get rid of 'em already." he responded, powering up a cannon on his right arm.

"You trigger happy slagger better hold still. You'll just make this longer than it needs to be." the irritated, neon yellow CMO growled as he was doing his routine maintenance check on the war-hardened veteran.

"Was that supposed to be a threat, Hatchet?" Ironhide retorted, and then was quickly slapped upside the head.

"For the last time, it's RATCHET!" Ratchet scolded.

"I know." Ironhide smirked, receiving a low growl from the frustrated Autobot.

Optimus let out a soft chuckle as did Sideswipe next to him.

"Hey, Ratchet?" The voice was metallic and feminine, with a tired, I'm-not-in-the-mood tone.

Everyone looked up to see a pink motorcycle in her bi-pedal mode come rolling in with a smaller, green mech in her arms.

"Oh c'mon, Arcee. It's just a-", he paused as he was looking for the right word, "a flesh wound? Yeah. A flesh wound."

Arcee rolled her optics, a gesture she adopted from the humans to show annoyance and simply stated, "You don't have flesh."

Ratchet put a hand to his face and covered his optics while shaking his head, another human gesture of annoyance.

"Yeah, c'mon Arcee. He was just trying to practice those ninja moves. What did the humans call it again?" the red Chevy, Mudflap, who was following close behind Arcee and his twin Skids, paused for a few seconds, searching the Internet for the word he was looking for.

"Oh yeah. Kung Fu! Hiya!" He attempted a spinning kick, but lost his balance and landed on his aft.

Sideswipe, Skids, and Major Lennox as well as Sgt. Epps who both walked in just as he attempted the kick, burst out laughing while everyone else, except Ratchet, laughed a little softer.

Arcee stopped in front of Ratchet, holding Skids up to him while he ran a scan.

"You have a minor stress fracture in your knee. What the frag were you trying to practice on?" Ratchet questioned, obviously very irritated.

"Just about took out one of the new recruits." Lennox answered. "He ducked just in time for Skids to hit the wall pretty hard."

"Almost looked like his knee bent back a little." Epps piped in.

Optimus narrowed his optics at the little green annoyance; almost daring him to explain what would possess him to harm a human.

"Hey, tha' lil' bitch was askin' for it. Called me an' Mudflap here 'dumbass screw-ups just waitin' to fuck everything up'." Skids quickly defended.

Ratchet let out the human equivalent of a sigh and turned to Ironhide. "You're done." he told him and waved him off.

Ironhide gladly got off the metal berth and walked out of the hangar with Sideswipe, Lennox, and Epps in tow while Arcee placed the little Autobot on the newly abandoned berth.

She looked over at the other two berths in the room where the motionless bodies of Chromia and Elita-One lay.

"They're going to be okay, right Ratchet?" she asked.

"They should be. In about an Earth week we will know." he responded, not looking up from his work on Skids with Mudflap waiting almost directly below.

Optimus put a hand on Arcee's shoulder to comfort her.

"They will be." he reassured in his deep voice.

She nodded her head with a smile and rolled out after Ironhide and Sideswipe.

Optimus took one last look at Ratchet and the twins before walking out himself.

He stood right outside of the hangar. To his right, he saw his teammates go into the other hangar. He smiled and looked at the western sky to his front, painted beautiful shades of red, orange, yellow, and pink as the sun set over the horizon.

Earth never ceases to amaze me, he thought.

Suddenly, an odd noise to his left caught his attention. He turned and looked at the source. On top of the stack of crates that reached his neck, there was a white bird he had never seen before. He accessed the Internet and got a description on what it was.

_Snowy Owl_

_Bubo Scandiacus_

_Diurnal white Owl with variable black markings_

_Mainly found in the Arctic but are highly nomadic_

_The official bird of Quebec_

Odd that it should be all the way down here, Optimus thought to himself.

It made that odd noise again and watched Optimus intently while he did the same, afraid that if he approaches it, it'll fly off in fear.

This continued for a few more seconds before the owl's eyes turned from yellow to white.

Optimus was taken aback at this sudden color change and moved to get closer to it.

"Help is found in the most unexpected people." said a feminine, whispering yet echoing voice.

Optimus stopped cold. It seemed to emanate from the bird, but how could that be? he thought.

"Friends are found in unexpected places." the voice said again.

Optimus' sensors told him it did come from the bird. He was genuinely surprised and waited for the bird to speak again.

"In every human being, there is the heart of a warrior. My heart. Even if it doesn't seem so." came the expected speech.

It hooted again then flew off in the direction of the setting sun. Optimus watched it go, going over what just happened in his processor, confused.

He would have to ask Major Lennox about it another time. Right now, his processor told him it was time to recharge. He slowly made his way to the hangar designated for them, watching the sky as it went completely dark, still thinking over what it said.

As he entered the hangar, he took one last look out and said to himself, "True, wise owl. But whose heart is the warrior's?"

* * *

So yeah. Thanks for reading my story!^_^ Reviews would be very much appreciated so I can know if I did well & know where I can improve (considering I'm an amateur).

Thanks again!^_^


	2. Chapter 2

"This Earth planet sounds… different." commented a blue and black seeker.

"Yeah, but we may be able to have some fun there." remarked his purple counterpart.

"How so, Skywarp?" Thundercracker asked, thoroughly confused.

"The planet is filled with weak little squishies and their primitive technology," Skywarp continued, "so we could swoop in, blow things up, and watch them run away in terror!"

"Will you two keep it down? I'm trying to figure out what our next plan of attack is going to be." Starscream scolded.

It had been almost a month since Megatron and Starscream had retreated back to Cybertron to heal and come up with a new strategy.

"Why don't you leave the planning to me? My plans will actually work." Shockwave retorted in a tired, humdrum sounding voice. He was gray in color and the only thing on his "face" was a single red optic.

"You do not talk back to me! I'm Second-in-Command!" the Air Commander yelled.

"No, I'm Second-in-Command." Shockwave responded.

"Will both of you shut up!" Megatron commanded.

All the Decepticons fell silent under Megatron's harsh tone.

"Starscream, you left me to die on that planet and last I recall you only showed up in Egypt after The Fallen was killed." he continued.

"I was only trying to find out if there were other Decepticons on that piece of scrap planet that could help us." Starscream defended.

"You're a liar and a traitor, Starscream. I'll finish you!" came the furious outburst.

He punched Starscream and threw him against the wall. Skywarp and Thundercracker cowered from the fight while Shockwave stood out of the way but well enough in view, clearly enjoying what he was seeing.

"Finishing him off won't do us any good, Megatron. He could be to our advantage." came a very deep, scratchy voice.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the communicator screen. A horrifying image met their optics. Someone they had never met, much less seen, had hacked into their communications system and was talking with them as if he's done it all his life. All they could see was a huge, pointed lizard's head with black skin and six red eyes. He had giant teeth that you could see clearly even though his mouth was closed. He had very broad, human like shoulders with red scars and he had barely visible, vertical black scales running down the top of his head. They could plainly see that whatever it was was an organic of some sort, but of all the creatures Megatron and Starscream had ever seen on Earth, this one was actually terrifying.

Megatron let go of Starscream's neck and walked over to the screen with everyone else closely behind.

"What are you and how did you contact us?" Megatron demanded in the lowest, scariest tone he could speak in.

The creature chuckled then answered slowly, "I am Lord Armahdon, leader of the Gorians. I have watched you fight on Earth from my prison in the center of it and have noticed that we have a common enemy: the humans. There are few we can trust and it was my favorite that got me through to you."

"Oh, Armahdon, you flatter me too much." was the feminine, nasally reply from off Armahdon's side of the screen.

He chuckled again. "The Earth holds many secrets and it's most powerful warriors, only when their powers are combined together, can take out all of your forces in one hit. Mine on the other hand, are more of a challenge to them."

"Hey! We can take down anyone, anywhere! Especially those pathetic little squishies!" Skywarp retorted.

"Yeah! What he said!" Thundercracker added.

Armahdon laughed deeply, evilly, until he continued, "You haven't come face-to-face with the Supreme Earth Force."

"No organic army can take down a Decepticon alone unless it had help." Shockwave remarked.

"The Supreme Earth Force is like no other army you've ever fought before, I can assure you." the gruesome lizard informed.

"If there was an army as powerful as you say there, it hasn't been doing a good job." Starscream countered.

"There is an army and because of its creator I'm trapped here!" Armahdon yelled. He took a breath and continued, "My forces have been fighting that army for millions of years. Sylvia has made it impossible for me to be out there with them, which is why they've failed so many times. Until five hundred years ago, but there's still-"

"Can we just get to the point already?" Shockwave asked, exasperated. "How do we fit in with this?"

"I'm here to make you a deal," Armahdon growled, unhappy by Shockwave's insolence. "If you join me in fighting the Supreme Earth Force, I will have my army help you defeat the Autobots. With our powers combined, it will be nearly impossible to stop us."

Megatron paused to think about this. He wanted to defeat the Autobots in any way he can, and this grotesque creature was asking for an alliance.

How do I know he's telling the truth? he thought to himself. And how can an organic army be as powerful as he says, no matter what side it's on?

"Show me this 'all-powerful' army of yours." he demanded.

"I thought you'd never ask," was Armahdon's reply. He started laughing manically and with a wave of his scarred, clawed hand, the Decepticons were whisked away through a purple and black hole that suddenly appeared below them. Where they found themselves was definitely not Cybertron, or what they had seen on Earth's surface.

* * *

"Major Lennox, may I speak to you for a moment?" Optimus Prime asked in a soft tone.

"Sure. What is it?" he replied, leaning against the rail of the raised platform in the Autobots' hanger.

Optimus thought for a moment on how to word his question, then asked, "Do animals on your planet talk?"

Some of the other soldiers on the platform looked at each other and Lennox scrunched his eyebrows in confusion as to why he would ask that question.

"Well, some can. Mainly birds, but cats and dogs have been known to be able to learn to talk, too. They either caught on from hearing humans talk to each other or were taught." was his response.

"Owls are kept as pets?" Optimus asked.

Will jerked his head back a little in surprise and confusion while the soldiers looked at each other again before returning to their work.

Owls? Will thought. What would make him ask that?

"Um, not as far as I know. I know some are kept in zoos, but I've never heard of anyone keeping one as a pet." he finally answered.

Optimus took this into consideration as he looked down.

If this is true, then how was that owl able to talk to me? the bi-pedal semi thought to himself. He didn't even recall it moving its mouth.

"You alright there, big guy?" Will asked.

Optimus looked up quickly and replied, "Yes. Thank you, Major, for your time."

"Oh. Well, it's no problem. Anytime, Optimus."

Optimus nodded then walked out of the hanger, being wary of the humans walking in and out of the place. Then he started walking across the base, in the direction of the shore. He remembered from the night before that the owl flew in this direction and he was still curious about the owl; where did it learn to talk and what did it mean.

Across the airfield, Ironhide was just walking out of the Autobots' medical hanger. He was in there for only a short time. He had snuck in when Ratchet walked out to inspect the new food and drink supplies shipped in for the humans to make sure it was all healthy. When the CMO walked back into his medbay after only ten minutes, he found Ironhide at Chromia's side, holding her motionless hand as she lay in stasis. Ratchet knew Ironhide had feelings for her, but he wasn't going to allow him to just waltz in without permission. It was his medbay after all.

"Get out!" Ratchet yelled and threw a wrench that smacked the side of Ironhide's head and left a sizable dent.

Ironhide got out as quickly as he could and spotted Optimus as he stepped out. He had his head pointed at a slight downward angle and a thoughtful look on his face.

Ironhide started walking his way, curious as to what he was thinking about.

Optimus finally made it to the beach and just stood there, watching the western sky, the direction the owl flew off in.

"What's on your mind?" Ironhide asked, stopping just a few steps away.

Optimus turned to him, smiled, and then turned back to the sky. There was still a small line of orange on the horizon from the sun's rising not long ago.

"Oh," he replied, "just thinking about how different this planet is from ours, how mysterious it is."

Ironhide was taken aback. He honestly thought Prime was thinking about what to do about the Decepticons. He never would have thought this was what he was thinking about, no matter how long they've known each other.

"Ironhide."

He looked to his leader and acknowledged him, "Yes, Prime?"

"Do you ever wonder about this planet?" Optimus asked.

"What do you mean?" he replied, very confused.

"Do you ever wonder about what's here?" Prime explained. "About how and why the life here does what it does?"

"Yeah. I wonder how the things here can survive and why the humans are so hesitant to tell us how they reproduce." Ironhide answered, some humor in his voice.

Optimus chuckled at this along with Ironhide until the Topkick asked, "What's this really about?"

Optimus thought for a bit on how to answer. It just didn't seem possible that a Snowy Owl could have changed its eye color and talked to him. Ironhide and Ratchet would probably think he needed to spend a day in the medbay. Lennox and Epps would probably think the same.

He just sighed and said, "Nothing of importance, friend. Let's go back to the hanger."

They both turned around and headed back.

He's not telling me everything, Ironhide thought. I guess I'll have to ask him later.

He thought this because just then, they heard the approaching helicopter carrying their favorite asshole, one Mr. Galloway.

* * *

Again, thanks for reading & reviews are very much appreciated! ^_^


	3. Chapter 3

The 'Cons observed their surroundings. They were standing on a huge slab of solid rock with a river of glowing lava surrounding it, save the walkway to the evil mastermind sitting in the throne. Armahdon looked like a twisted version of a lizard combined with a human. He had human like arms, legs, and torso, but he also had claws, a tail, and a line of vertical scales down his back and tail. Most of his jet black skin was decorated with red war scars and he had a huge, muscular build, like a bodybuilder gone horribly wrong. Even when sitting he looked twice as big as Megatron.

There were many vertical rock cliffs around the river which were jam packed with huge, disgusting creatures, all with six red eyes like their leader. Some looked like purple, armor-plated cats with extremely sharp, black claws, huge teeth, and three scorpion tails. Some looked like vampire bats with no eyes, smaller ears, black skin with claws at the ends of their wings, and were crawling on the ground instead of hanging upside down. Others looked like purple and black striped lionfish with six legs and were climbing up the walls. There were several cliffs with a little bigger than human-sized creatures that looked like purple, hunch-backed, overgrown lizards with four arms and standing on two legs. They, too, had claws and black scales lining their spines and tails with black cloth wrappings around their wrists, ankles, waists, and thighs. There was what looked like a copy of Armahdon standing to his right that had the smaller purple creatures' features, including the skin, and four scorpion tails coming out of his back. There was another cliff holding hundreds of more human-like creatures that looked like the Grim Reaper; black hooded cloaks, invisible faces, and scaly, bony hands holding twisted swords instead of scythes. On the cliff to the left of Armahdon, there were about a dozen humans wearing black jumpsuits with a dark-haired, medium-build female standing at the front with her arms crossed and an evil smirk. She looked to be about seventeen or eighteen.

All of the creatures were roaring and growling menacingly, almost looking like they were prepared to attack the Decepticons at any given moment.

Skywarp and Starscream were preparing to fight them, weapons glowing and at the ready.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Thundercracker warned. "We're outnumbered. You wouldn't stand a chance in Pit."

Megatron and Shockwave just kept looking around, speechless at the horrendous, disgusting sight surrounding them. They both knew better than to attack a huge army without many other Decepticons to help them.

"He is right. And there are plenty more than what you see here."

All the Decepticons turned to look at the Gorian leader like they had just noticed he was there.

"This is my army, Megatron. Your weapons will not do much damage to them, or those in the Supreme Earth Force. Only certain weapons and creatures can do an outstanding amount, but we can tend to that later. To my right is Mahkahloh, my Second-in-Command. And the human female to my left standing at the front is my favorite; her name is Vahlinthra." He pointed to them as he introduced them then pointed to the smaller lizards.

"Now I'll introduce you to the different kinds of warriors you see. Those are the Shredders. They do to the enemy what the name implies." He pointed to the cloaked beings and said, "Those are the Rippers, experts in torture. Those-" pointing to the cat things "-are the Snarlers, used to track then destroy. Their tails contain a poison that can paralyze whoever is stung and can puncture some of the toughest materials, same as Mahkahloh's." He pointed to the bats and continued, "Those flying creatures are the Screechers. They can make sounds at a frequency that can destroy the enemy's hearing and render them immobile. They can fly at speeds faster than that of a human fighter jet and can take the form of black smoke to make injury to them very difficult."

"Kinda sounds like an organic version of Soundwave." Skywarp whispered to Thundercracker.

"How can they see if they don't have eyes?" Shockwave asked, incredulous.

"Sonar and scent." was the simple answer.

It's impossible for a blind organic to be as good a fighter as he claims, Shockwave thought.

He finally identified the last creatures. "Those things crawling up the walls are the Demolishers. They are ruthless and destroy everything in their path. I created them so their poison can kill instantly and their spit is a very powerful acid."

"My aft. Like their body fluids can melt this." Skywarp spat, pointing to himself with his thumb.

"How much you wanna bet?" Vahlinthra countered, obviously not liking him.

Armahdon nodded his head toward her and she looked to closest one.

"Show him what you're made of." she commanded.

It jumped off the wall right across from Skywarp and slowly advanced toward him, baring its serrated teeth and growling.

"He wasn't being serious." Thundercracker cut in, pulling Skywarp back.

"Yes I was!" he yelled as pushed his blue comrade out of the way. "Come on; hit me with your best shot!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Mahkahloh warned in a similar voice to Armahdon's, an evil smile spreading across his face.

Suddenly, the creature spit and hit Skywarp straight in the chest, causing him to scream in agony and clutch his quickly deteriorating cockpit. The other creatures roared louder, as if cheering for their brother-in-arms.

"Skywarp!" Thundercracker yelled and ran to his side.

Megatron took a few steps towards him, charged one of his arm weapons, and then turned to Armahdon.

"I thought you wanted an alliance, but instead you let your filthy creatures attack us!"

Armahdon smiled. "One thing we practice here is hard discipline. And don't worry about him."

He turned to Mahkahloh and nodded. The purple creature then walked over to the seeker and stood over him. He was easily ten feet taller than the Decepticon and had more bulk. Thundercracker glared at him and Starscream shot at him with his null ray.

"WHAT?" Starscream yelled when he saw he made a small and definitely non-life threatening scratch in the creature's armor-like skin. Shockwave was astonished, but made no reply. Megatron was too, at first, but then became very impressed.

This might be a worthwhile alliance after all, he thought. He powered down his weapon and took a step back in the direction of Armahdon, still watching for what the Gorian was going to do next.

The lizard then spit into Skywarp's wound which had the reverse effect of the Demolisher's.

"Return to your place." Vahlinthra commanded and fish-wannabe obeyed without any form of protest.

Starscream shot again, but only succeeded in pissing off the taller Second-in-Command.

"It's no use, Starscream. If it didn't work the first time, it's not going to work a second." Shockwave said.

"No organic can be that strong! Organics are weak and helpless!" he cried.

Every Gorian in the room growled and took a menacing step forward, including the humans. Vahlinthra was shooting him a death glare, head lowered a bit and a black, smoky energy pulsing from her hands, causing Thundercracker and Skywarp to stare at her in amazement. Armahdon was furious.

"You will not revile me or any of my minions!" he bellowed. He got up and walked towards the silver F-22. He actually was twice the size of Megatron and every step he took shook the ground and stirred the lava. The roars were deafening. Starscream took a step away from the fast approaching lizard, transformed and tried to fly up but Armahdon caught him in his enormous hands. He threw Starscream to the ground, who transformed upon impact, and placed his giant, clawed foot on him, threatening to crush him.

"Armahdon." Vahlinthra called.

He turned his head in her direction, as did the rest of the Decepticons, and seemed to calm down a bit.

"I don't blame you for wanting to kill that pathetic excuse for a life form-," she continued until Skywarp interrupted her.

"Hey! We're the same thing as him and I can easily cru-"

Thundercracker backhanded him and cut him off, "You better shut up unless you wanna end up like Screamer."

She glared at him then finished, "But with little Decepticons left, we'll need every one that we can get."

"She has a logical point." Shockwave agreed.

Armahdon slowly lifted his foot, sat back down in his black throne, and shot Vahlinthra a brief, almost unnoticeable smile.

"So, Megatron, do we have a deal?" he asked, facing him.

Megatron thought it over one more time then replied, "Yes."

Armahdon gave an evil smile then announced, "This shall go down in history as the most powerful alliance ever made. With the Supreme Earth Force and the Autobots as weak as they are, nothing shall stand in our way!"

Amidst the loud, roaring response Megatron turned to Shockwave, "Inform all of the Decepticons, and tell them to get to Cybertron immediately."

Megatron had a good feeling about this and felt unstoppable. He didn't even notice Vahlinthra conversing with Armahdon in a low voice, saying, "It's all going according to plan."

* * *

"HOLY SHIT YOUR ASS IS ON FIRE! STOP, DROP, ROLL! STOP, DROP, ROLL!" the twins, Seth and Red Schema, yelled to Chakri Levitas as he ran into Altus Lake, outside the ring of mountains surrounding the hidden kingdom of Caelum. The lake started glowing faintly from the small wave of electricity flowing from Chakri's body into the water.

Saul, being the "newly discovered" Warrior of Fire, sneezed a fireball that happened to land on Chakri's ass and make the day's training an official disaster in their leader, Leila Bellator's, mind.

She stood next to a dumbfounded Saul Flamma with her face in her palm. Her boyfriend, Doug Silva, stood next to her with his arm around her shoulders, giggling like the twins who stood on the other side of Saul.

Kefira Ventus walked over to the shore as Chakri stumbled out, his jet black hair no longer standing on edge.

"Are you alright, pupule?" she asked in a mild, but understandable Hawaiian accent.

"Yes. I mean, it's all good, dude." he replied, trying to sound "cool" and giving a thumb up.

"Dude, I know you're still learning English, what with being from Thailand and all, but don't you ever say that again, okay?" Seth asked, causing Red to have a harder time hiding his laughter.

"Okey, dokey." Chakri answered in his own personal accent. His hair started to stand up again from the constant electricity pulsing throughout his body that he still had to master control over.

Leila finally pried her hand from her face and looked over everyone until her eyes met Doug's.

She waited a few seconds before finally saying, "Kill me. Just kill me."

Doug laughed, pulled her closer, and kissed her on the forehead. She looked up at him. She just couldn't resist those deep green eyes and crazy dark brown hair with dark green highlights. She especially loved how he always held her close to his mildly scarred body that got stronger and stronger everyday just like everyone else's due to the training they all went through. He was the best comfort to her whenever she got depressed from time to time, thinking about her lost family and friends.

They heard a hoot and looked over at the huge forest surrounding the lake and mountains. On the nearest tree sat a snowy owl, watching them intently.

Its bright yellow eyes turned white then a woman's whispering, echoing voice came from it, saying, "I wish to speak with you, Leila, at the Well of The Heart." Then it flew off towards Bicallis Cave, the only opening in the Arx Mountains and it led straight to Caelum, but only if you were allowed by its guardian.

"Alright. Training's over, for now. After dinner I want you all to run laps around the castle and I'll go with you. Make sure you inform Maricela, Taj, Matrix, and Lizeth, too." she commanded, starting for the cave.

The twins, Doug, and Chakri followed closely, but Kefira went straight up to Saul, placed her hand on his cheek and said, "Bless you, nohea."

Saul's face turned brick red and he almost stopped breathing as she shot him a seductive smile, and then followed the rest of the group.

He stood there for a little bit before collecting himself and running to catch up with the group.

When they got up to the cave entrance a little ways away, they stopped dead in their path, except for Leila who took a couple steps forward.

A gust of warm air shot past them from the giant cave, like someone just exhaled. And, indeed, something did.

A huge lizard's snout with rows upon rows of saw-like teeth slowly showed itself from the dark tunnel, but never showed anything past that.

Saul gulped and the twins gawked like they do every time, even though they've had to do this twice already. And like Leila's said before, who wouldn't piss their pants when they're asking a seventy-five foot tall, three-headed, nohfohndt-breathing Hydra that you've never even fully seen for permission into a heavily guarded and secret kingdom, especially when one beam of nohfohndt can clear half of the United States if the one using it wanted to. Nohfohndt is the energy of the Mother of Earth after all.

"Zehkeiynahloh," Leila shouted to it, "we request entry into Caelum."

He sniffed the air to confirm their identities and replied, "Permission granted," in a ground-shaking voice.

The giant muzzle then disappeared into the smoky darkness.

Leila gave a quick nod and the small group followed her into the cave. No light was needed for them to find their way out. Bicallis Cave was blessed so that anyone who is allowed to enter will always find their way.

Approaching Caelum, the group separated, Leila following the faintly luminescent Fides Stream flowing inside the mountains, and everyone else going into the castle for a break and dinner.

After ten minutes, Leila got to the end of the stream, the sacred place known as the Well of The Heart. It was a perfectly round pool, glowing brightly blue, but not blinding. It was rumored that at the bottom of the Well lies the even brighter heart of the Great Mother of Earth, the only remaining part of her physical form which was sacrificed to trap a great enemy, Armahdon, in the center of the Earth.

In the center of the pool, on top of the water was her scepter, the Staff of Ages. The part she held in her hand looked like glass that twisted around itself until it got to the top where it looked like four fingers gripped a round orb that was a smaller version of Earth.

And sitting on top of that was the white owl from before.

Leila approached it, and as she did, her own eyes turned white and she bowed on one knee, saying, "Great Mother Sylvia, creator of all, I have come to you as you have commanded me."

"Rise." she responded, eyes white again, "there is no need to fall to the ground in my presence."

Leila did as she was told and was blinded when the owl gave off a white light. When the glow got softer, Leila could see that Sylvia had changed into a ghost of her human form. She was seven feet tall at the least with pale skin and flowing black hair. She wore a sparkling white dress with long sleeves that drooped at her wrists and a white blindfold over her eyes. She had a silver and white gold crown on her head that looked more like a tiara, which was her way of showing that she may be Queen, but she's very modest. She wanted to show her people that there is no hierarchy, and that she created every human to be equal to each other and every living thing on her planet is equal to her.

"I bring you news about the Gorian forces." she continued. "Mahkahloh, the one who weakened your forces severely five hundred years ago, has now been identified as a human Gorian."

Leila's eyes went wide in disbelief. Mahkahloh, of all people, was traipsing around as a human?

"What the fu-," Leila started quietly then asked louder, "Why the hell would he be doing that? And more importantly who the hell is he going as?"

"I know you are shocked and frustrated enough, hon, but all I can tell you is that he is in a high ranking position in the American government and that he's not the most liked." Sylvia responded in a soothing tone.

Leila sighed and looked down. It was Mahkahloh that almost completely wiped out all the dragons, making Moulin, her friend and guardian, the last of his kind. It was also Mahkahloh that put the seemingly unstoppable Guardians, all of them, in the Dark Void, their prison cell, with no hope of escape. The only way they could get out is if Mahkahloh is killed, but the human members of the SEF are just not experienced enough or even capable of fighting someone of his rank or power yet. And there aren't many more members of the SEF that have shown themselves yet. Considering the little progress they're making every day, it would take years before they could defeat him, and who knows what'll happen before then?

Leila opened her mouth for one more question when Sylvia answered, "And he's not the president."

Leila sighed again and looked up when she saw that Sylvia was "standing" in front of her, with her ghostly hand on the sixteen year old's shoulder.

"You need not worry yourself too much, my child. In the end, all shall be right. You will find help in unexpected places and friends in unexpected people. But beware, for I fear the Gorians shall have help from unexpected sources as well."

Then Sylvia took the form of a snowy owl again on top of her scepter and said, "Keep working hard, Commander Bellator, and sooner than you think, you shall have grand warriors at your side. Also, use much more nohfohndt than you normally use."

Leila perked her head up at this and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Why?"

"More nohfohndt a day shall keep the doctor away." was the owl's reply.

Then she flew off again, right past Leila, to who knows where.

Leila just stood there, confused and exhausted, wondering, "How are we ever going to do this?"

* * *

Thanks! Please R&R! ^_^


	4. Chapter 4

"Reggie, we have a problem." Lizeth stated in her raspy, very slightly accented voice.

"What did the twins do this time?" Reggie asked, annoyed. He had no idea where she, the twins, and Matrix went and they didn't bring any electronic communicators with them. Thank the Mother they could communicate their thoughts whenever they wanted to whoever they wanted.

"It's not the twins." she replied.

"Major energy spike detected in Aether Forest outside the kingdom." Valuyonkah, the new super-computer built inside the ancient castle of Caelum, stated in a female voice. "Source identified as Lizeth Atrum taking energy from a nearby boulder."

Reggie face palmed hard so that it echoed a bit in the infirmary.

"What the hell are you doing, L? Commander said not to 'psyche drain' outside of the Mountains. It gives off too much of an energy signal and could lead to some random government coming to investigate. Do you even know how pissed she's gonna be if that happens?" Reggie asked, now highly exasperated.

"Matrix fell out of a very tall tree and shattered his leg. I am using the energy from the nearest object to get him to stop screaming." Lizeth explained.

Reggie drooped his head for a bit, letting some wrinkles appear on his face before making them disappear quickly as he looked back up in confusion. Being a shape-shifter, he could live forever as long as he's not shot to death or stabbed to death or anything of the type. His biggest secret is his exact age, which he's never told anyone, not even Commander.

He cocked an eyebrow before asking, "Wait, how did you know his leg was shattered?"

"I'm a Psyche, remember? I can feel and use all the energy around me. I was able to feel his bones' condition through his body's energy." came the unamused answer. "Not only that, but I'm also the Warrior of Darkness, the Dark Legend, which amplifies it."

"Don't get smart with me." Reggie warned. "Just get back here as fast as you can."

"Aye, aye, Captain." Lizeth mocked.

Reggie just rolled his eyes and prepared a bed for Matrix as well as the necessary equipment for fixing Matrix's leg.

This is not going to end well, he thought.

* * *

"I can't believe that slagger is going to be staying here now." Ironhide fumed.

"What he said." Skids agreed.

"Yeah, dat lil' bitch'll ruin all da fun." Mudflap complained.

All the Autobots went into the medbay, with Ratchet's permission, for some privacy while they talked about Galloway's decision to stay at the NEST base in Diego Garcia.

"Why would he even want to stay here when he's tried to get rid of us and has a trigger-happy 'old fart' after him?" Sideswipe asked, using the Earth term he picked up from Lennox.

Ironhide gave him his death glare while the twins just shrugged.

"Something must be wrong with his processor." Ratchet suggested.

Optimus had been silent since the announcement. He didn't like Galloway any more than everyone else did. He was confused as to where he would even get the notion. But it wasn't only confusion that kept him silent. During the talk with him, Optimus couldn't help but notice a flash of red across Galloway's eyes when he said he's staying.

Did I really see that? he thought. Was it supposed to be a warning? Maybe I should get checked by Ratchet.

"Optimus?"

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard his name. He saw Arcee looking at him, a tinge of concern in her tone and optics.

"Are you alright, Prime?" Ironhide asked. "You've been acting a little strangely lately."

All optics turned to their towering leader while he thought of what to say.

He straightened up and finally spoke, "I've recently had… an odd, to say the least, experience that has been on my processor for some time."

He paused while everyone waited intently for him to continue.

"It was a message, from a very unlikely source… I sense that it was meant to foretell future events… good and bad."

"What was the message, Optimus?" Arcee asked very curiously.

When he was about to answer, they heard Epps yelling, "Hey! We got a major energy spike in Norway! Let's move!"


	5. Chapter 5

"How is he, Reg?"

He turned from the unconscious, Australian patient he was administering medication to, to the "punk-ass Dane chick" as she was called by the twins, only to have their supercomputer answer for him.

"Condition: stable. Recovery time: three to seven days." it said in a human-sounding female voice.

"What she said." Reggie added, nodding upwards.

Lizeth cocked her left eyebrow that had four red and silver studs above and below it with a slightly confused look.

"A week?" she asked in a gravelly voice. "How the hell can he recover in a week when every bone in his foot and lower leg were shattered as bad as they were?"

The brusque Chief Medical Officer held up the syringe he just emptied into Matrix's arm, cocked his own eyebrow in a sort of matter-of-factly way, and answered curtly, "The medicine I gave him makes his body repair itself seven times faster than normal."

She nodded her head in acknowledgement before walking over and taking hold of her love interest's right hand.

"How long 'til he wakes up?" she inquired.

Reggie opened his mouth only to, once again, have Valuyonkah take the words right out of his mouth.

"Exactly one hour, three minutes, and sixteen seconds."

Reggie looked up at the ceiling and asked, "Will you let me do my fucking job?"

"I am sorry, Reggie." she replied. "Name overwritten." she then added quickly. "I apologize, Chee Chee."

He groaned and face palmed at the name while Lizeth giggled to herself.

They turned to look at the door to the infirmary when they heard someone clear their throat.

Leila stood there with a very unamused look on her face. Her hands were on her hips and she looked like she just got done with a very vigorous workout. She was wearing sweatpants and a cropped tank top to match her slightly wavy, white hair that revealed all the fighter marks on her upper body; dragon on her right arm, vines and leaves on her left, the Staff of Ages on the front of her torso ending at her navel, and if she turned around, the symbol of the Supreme Earth Force on her back.

It was a ring with the words "Supreme Earth Force" on it which had a phoenix in the center that had its wings outstretched and its forked tail pointing straight down. The phoenix was gripping a banner that said "We fight as one, and we fight to the end." And crossed behind its back were the Staff of Ages and a serrated, one-bladed sword called the Pure Sword. All those marks were to prove that she was indeed the leader of the S.E.F and to strike fear into the enemy. But right now, they were striking fear into one of her own team members, even if it was just a little bit.

"Uh, hi." Lizeth uttered sheepishly with a small wave.

Leila's eyes averted to her unconscious comrade on the berth with a gray cast on his right leg and his normally neat hair a dark gray mess, then back to Lizeth.

"I see you got your mark of a pure warrior." she added. "Makes you look even more badass."

She was referring to Leila's new eye mark. It was a crescent moon around her right eye with a double-bladed sword going through the middle of her eyelid and a small portion of the ends of the moon.

Leila blinked a couple times before finally speaking.

"You know, sucking up to me isn't gonna get you out of trouble."

Lizeth let out a defeated sigh and looked backed down at Matrix.

Leila looked at Reggie and which a quick flick of her head towards the outside of the infirmary, he followed her out there.

Lizeth could hear them conversing outside, but couldn't make out what they were saying. She knew they were talking about her punishment. She didn't care though. She just wanted Matrix to get better as soon as possible.

She pushed her black-framed glasses up farther on her nose and whispered, "Please, Matrix. Come back soon."

They were almost complete opposites; Matrix being friendly and happy-go-lucky, Lizeth being very antisocial and depressed. And she had every right to be. Fifteen years of beatings and abuse will do that to someone.

Somehow, he could bring out the best of her, some of the time. All her life, she had been so close to committing suicide, but some unknown being told her to hang in there. It wasn't until after she met Matrix the first day they arrived at Caelum that she figured out it was Sylvia. Ever since then, she thanked Sylvia every day and every night for giving her the courage to live another day.

Lizeth was abruptly snapped out of her reminiscing when Leila and Reggie walked back in.

"Alright," Leila began, "considering the circumstances that led to breaking the rule, your punishment is to clean the infirmary and operating rooms. Even if you broke the rule, the reason was very noble which is why the penalty is so light. And I congratulate you on how well you controlled the situation and the power you used. Nice work."

"Commander," Valuyonkah started, "the American government has dispatched a secret branch of their military called NEST to investigate the energy spike given off by Lizeth. Arrival time to the forest: six hours."

"Thank you." Leila replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to tell the American military to stay the hell out of my forest."

Before she did that though she asked, "Wait, how do you know about NEST if it's a secret?"

"I was made so that I can access everything electronic to gather information and to keep communication open. I can do so without getting caught and traced back here."

"Hmm. Smart." Leila remarked. "Okay, so now I'm going to tell them to scram."

And with that, Leila took off. She shapeshifted into a cloud of white smoke and flew out.

"Emergency." Valuyonkah announced. "Time cut short. Arrival time: thirty minutes."

"Thirty minutes? What the fuck?" Reggie asked, bewildered.

"Armahdon's trying to fuck with us." Lizeth answered venomously.

"Fuck!" Reggie shouted, pounding his fist on the table. "Sons of bitches." he then whispered.

We'll defeat you yet, Armahdon, he thought. You'll pay for what you've done.

* * *

"Hey, Major." Epps whispered.

"Yeah?" he asked in a voice louder than a whisper, but softer than normal talk.

"How did we get here so fast?"

"Beats me." Lennox answered. "As long as we got here safely, I don't give a damn."

There was a loud snap and Cybertronian cursing as another tree branch whipped Ironhide in the face and broke.

Snickering could be heard from the twins and a couple of the soldiers, including Epps and Lennox, as they walked by him. They weren't tall enough to have tree branches smacking them like the rest of the Autobots.

They all had to be in robot mode to get through the forest. Their alt modes just wouldn't cut it. Either way, the taller 'bots were having a very hard time getting through the dense forest. They all were constantly getting a mouth full leaves and a face full of splinters. It was a very comical sight, seeing twenty foot robots trying not to trip over roots and clear the forest with their enormous size, even if most of the trees were taller than Optimus Prime himself.

"This is ridiculous." Ironhide said, very annoyed. He powered up his right arm cannon and continued, "I can make it much easier for us if you would just-"

"No, Ironhide. You're not clearing the forest." Optimus interrupted.

Ironhide grunted with disapproval and could hear Sideswipe snickering at him until he got a branch in his mouth.

As he spat it out, Ironhide turned to look at him and with a smirk countered, "Who's laughing now?"

Sideswipe glared at him but said nothing and continued on.

Finally, they reached a small clearing. Across from them was a portion of the Arx Mountains called the Alea Cliffs and there was more forest spreading out in every other direction. The vertical mountainside was covered with jagged, rocky outcroppings. Not even the most experienced rock-climber would dare to reach the top of the mountains from this side of the mountain chain unless they had a death wish.

"Finally." Ironhide sounded relieved and started picking leaves out of his cannons.

"Sorry, big guy, but the signal came from the other side." Lennox told him.

Ironhide grunted and Arcee sighed. They still stood at the edge of the forest while the Autobots collected themselves and tried to get some of the splinters out of their systems until,

"Hmm. I'm detecting a large, organic life form coming in our direction from the north. It seems to be chasing a smaller one."

Everyone just looked at Ratchet until Epps asked, "How big?"

He was answered with a loud roar. Just then, a black horse ran into the clearing near the mountains until it was caught in the mouth of a giant reptile with a large head and legs, very small arms, and tiny horns coming out of its head.

"Oh shit!" Epps yelled. Lennox shushed him and his crew and just stared at the towering Carnotaurus, mouth gaping.

It has to be as tall as Prime, he thought.

Ratchet was fascinated by it until started ripping the horse apart and eating it, same as Optimus. Sideswipe, the twins, and Arcee were at a loss for words and stared while Ironhide pointed his cannons at it.

"I thought those things were supposed to be extinct." Epps told Lennox.

"Extinct?" Arcee asked, dumbfounded and a little worried.

Optimus heard this too and turned to stop Ironhide from shooting it.

"Ironhide, this may be the last one on Earth. Let's not make the claim that they're extinct true."

Ironhide grunted and powered them down, but kept them at the ready.

It was then that the massive beast noticed them. It bared its bloody teeth, took one menacing step forward, and let out a huge roar. Everyone took a step back, except Ironhide until he was pulled back by Optimus, while it took another step forward.

"No sudden movements." Lennox whispered so everyone was dead still.

The beast was still as well, growling, debating whether or not to attack.

Then he saw one of Ironhide's cannons crackle to life. He was about to charge when they all heard someone shout, "Waohntoh!"

The lizard stopped dead in its tracks and turned slowly to the source. There was a girl with white hair and peculiar markings wearing an exercise outfit standing on one of the cliffs just a little higher than the Carnotaurus' head.

She cocked an eyebrow and pointed next to her, saying, "Waohntoh, here, now."

The grand beast that wasn't the least bit afraid of the Autobots surprisingly obeyed the tiny human without any form of protest. He stood "next" to her, so to speak. He was still on the ground, but beside her nonetheless. She reached out and patted him on the nose before turning to the NEST operatives that had invaded her forest.

She crossed her arms and asked in a very commanding tone, "What are you doing in my forest?"

They all just stared at her dumbfounded. They were confused. They didn't know how long she had been there, why that beast obeyed her like a trained dog, and why she was talking to them like she was in charge.

"Well?" she demanded.

They all seemed to snap out of their trance and finally Lennox spoke, "Excuse me? What gives you the authority to order us around?"

She and Waohntoh just looked at each other then looked back at them.

Optimus stepped forward and explained, "We have reason to believe that there is a very large energy source here. Would you happen to know anything about it?"

She blinked and answered curtly, "No."

"I don't believe you." Ironhide asserted. "If this is 'your' forest, then you should know."

She glared at him and growled, "Get out of my forest. There is nothing here so just leave."

"Whoa, wait a second. You have a fricking T-rex that's supposed to be extinct. There's gotta be-"

"GET OUT!" she screamed.

"I don't take orders from an insubordinate, lying child. Do you even know who we are?" Ironhide argued.

"I don't give a shit about who you are! If you won't go on your own, I'll make you go." she snarled.

She closed her eyes and put her hands in front of her chest like she was praying then separated them just a couple of inches. Then her markings started glowing and a glowing white ball appeared between her hands.

Every member of NEST took a step back, awestruck. They had no idea what she was doing or how she was doing it, but they were all thinking the same thing: it can't be good.

She opened her eyes which were also glowing and spoke something in a language nobody could understand.

"Ahfaiyckeyi nahslahsteh ahsteyi!"

The light given off from her body became blinding and consumed them all.

The next thing NEST knew, they were at their base back at Diego Garcia.

Looking around, they realized they had no memory of why they were gathered there.

"Uh, Major, why are we here?" Arcee asked. "Are we going on a mission?"

Will looked down at his gun and shrugged.

"Not that I know of." he answered.

"Damn, I'm hungry. Let's go eat." Epps suggested.

"Alright." Lennox agreed then walked off with him and a plethora of the other soldiers.

Meanwhile, back in Aether Forest, Leila fell to her knees after the light had faded.

"Damn," she gasped, "that took a lot outta me."

Waohntoh let out an apologetic groan and put his head to the mountain for her to climb on.

"Thanks." she acknowledged and climbed on, lying down on his massive head.

"Alright, let's go back to base."

Waohntoh grunted in approval and headed off towards Bicallis Cave on the opposite side of the mountains.

Stupid NEST guy, she thought. Can't tell the difference between a T-rex and a Carnotaurus. Dumbass.


End file.
